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By destroying almost all of it though there is no longer any sense of the sacred left. Just status chasing and consumerism. The only sense of the 'sacred' left is a strong belief that you should have children which IMO is just a leftover cultural script from birthing soldiers.

Combined you get status & consumerism around Children. E.g. expensive houses, schooling, piano lessons, etc... Not the stupid debt-driven consumerism either, there's lot of savvy investment and saving.

It can feel terrifying. A bunch of smarter, more driven, more hardworking people being better at everything than you. The only advantage you have is a sense of the 'sacred' or rightness that they don't care about.

This is the same feeling that many cultures felt when they were overwhelmed and destroyed by a 'superior' culture. A sense that the other had sold themselves to the devil, gaining knowledge and power at the cost of sacredness.

The urban/rural split has a similar dynamic. The urban life with its casual sex, bullshit jobs, etc.. feels depraved compared to the honesty and directness of urban life.

The biggest difference for China is that sense of terror is coupled with a massive population, ratcheting it up to Borg like fear.

Instead of 10 peasants vs 1 terminator odds it's like 1 peasant vs 10 terminators. Like an alien invasion the knee-jerk reaction is 'burn it with fire'. (Knee jerk reactions always forget the consequences of hostility.) (Funny that 'alien' can legally also refer to immigrants)

In many machiavellian tomes of advice you never want to outshine the master. You can have better character, better luck, better looks, etc.. but the cardinal sin is to showcase that you have greater intelligence.